Love the article.

Personally I grew up in the horse racing world and the farming associated with it and while I realized at an early age that it was completely nuts, to be totally engrossed about racing horses around a track, in my few efforts to escape it, realized the people in the real world were far crazier. They just had much bigger rabbit holes.

Which is to say that not only am I not professionally involved in any academic field, but have studiously avoided any formal education. My sense being it was more trade school for desk work and I hated desks. More indoctrination than enlightenment.

While I haven't taken the time to really digest it, I would say that rather than truth, I think a more effective ideal is quality.

Truth has more baggage, in the sense of the objective being attainable, when the reality is more subjective, given the universal is the elemental.

As you develop, there are many systems that work to varying degrees, but the reality is more rock, paper, scissors, than one God Almighty model of truth.

Good and bad being that basic biological binary of beneficial and detrimental, rather than the cosmic good versus evil.

So the premise of quality is dependent on the situation and doing the best possible in it.

Given you are from California and like to adventure, I thought I'd post this link to a memorial to one of my cousins;

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=481027